Volvo’s Latest Ad Campaign Has Got a Lot of People Talking

Volvo is the latest large company to jump on board the trend of progressive ad campaigns, the likes of which please many – while also riling up some in the process. Gillette’s recent campaigns discussing body positivity and toxic masculinity have received a decent amount of backlash, but clearly that’s not stopping other companies from testing the waters.

Recently, Volvo stuck a toe in with the ad above, revealing their new parental leave policy. It features an illustration depicting same-sex parents…and some of Volvo’s fans on Facebook are less than thrilled.

“Being the human-centric and progressive company that we are, our EMEA team wondered: Can we extend those benefits to our employees outside Sweden? Turns out we can. To start with, we now introduce a paid, gender-neutral parental leave policy for all our sales company employees in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) offering parents a total of six months of leave with 80 percent pay.”

The head of the company’s HR department added that the initiative is “one of several activities with the aim to create an inclusive culture and attract and retain a diverse set of people. It improves life-work balance, boosts family time, and fits with a progressive, human-centric company like Volvo Cars.”

It’s worth noting that there were also plenty of people applauding the company’s forward thinking ad.